Testimonials

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Emer, Willow aged 16months – feeding to sleep, needing Mummy/Daddy present to fall asleep

Suzanne is amazing. She is kind, considerate, warm, and most importantly, knows what she is doing. I could not recommend her highly enough. I have a strong willed little girl. She had gotten into the habit of falling asleep in our arms, drinking her bottle. Then we would transfer to her cot. That would all have been fine to be honest, but then she started waking at night. It could be any time. And she would only go back to sleep after one of us would lie down beside her on a beaten up old mattress and hold her hand until she went back to sleep….it wasn’t quick, it was cold, my neck and shoulders were killing me. Something had to change. And with Suzanne’s help, everything changed. Willow now goes happily into her cot, on her own, door closed and off to sleep. She nearly always sleeps 12 hours a night. She has a 2 hour nap most days with the same going down to sleep on her own. She also dropped a daytime bottle and only has her soother for sleeping (she was a previous soother addict). She was 16 months when we used Suzanne’s services, that was 2 months ago and *touches all the wood* so far so good. If you have a bad sleeper – there is hope, and it is called “Goodnight Guidance”. You can’t put a price on a good night’s sleep, but if you could, I would pay 10 times what I paid to get these results.

Emily, Will aged 4 months (Best practice guidelines, not sleep training)- breastfed to sleep, poor day napper, frequent night wakings 

As a breastfeeding mum I was sceptical that there was much I could do to help my baby sleep longer at night. When I contacted Suzanne I was at my wits end with sleep deprivation, feeling anxious about nights and nap times and baby Will was refusing to take a bottle. I contacted Suzanne when Will was 4 months old and although she doesn’t support sleep training so young, she offered to help me get Will set up up for settling independently for when he was developmentally ready to do it. Having something to work towards really helped my anxiety levels and seeing the small steps Will made over the following months was so great. I felt so proud of him! She taught me the science bit about how a baby sleeps, where Will was at developmentally and what we could expect of him, advised of some changes to be made to his sleep environment and also helped me develop a range of different techniques to help Will fall asleep feeling secure and content – without falling asleep while feeding. I had been worried about our bond if he stopped feeding to sleep but Suzanne assured me that attachment wouldn’t be affected using her techniques. I worked hard and with Suzanne’s support it has surprisingly resulted in Will sleeping for much longer periods and at almost 7 months he has even started sleeping through the night. The difference in his mood is amazing – and in mine. I’m now able to be the Mummy I want to be because I’m not so exhausted and stressed. Will is taking much better, more effective feeds during the day and his solid intake has increased because he’s not snacking on breast milk all day (and all night like he was). It’s amazing! I even feel more connected with him now because we’re both so happy from such good sleep.

Trudie, Rena aged 6 months – breastfed to sleep, co-sleeping, frequent night wakings, poor day napper

My hubby and I will be eternally thankful to Suzanne for saving our sanity! Our almost 7 month old had been wakening every 1-2hours for a breastfeed and was extremely difficult to settle at night..only wanting to fall asleep on my breast!
We chose the overnight package with Suzanne (which was a very relaxed experience) having the expectation of perhaps 4-5 hours of continuous sleep.. we were amazed that our little girl, on night 2 only woke once for a feed and by night three slept right through from 7pm-6.30am.
I had no idea that breastfed babies could sleep all night and am so pleased that I did not go down the formula route – which was repeatedly suggested by peers and professionals!
Our little bundle is so so happy now that she is getting the sleep she needed all along…and mummy and daddy are catching up on 7months of broken sleep now too!!
Suzanne is so patient, non judgemental, friendly and full of knowledge. I have no hesitation in recommending her services to any other families having difficulties with sleeping babies
xxx

Sarah

Sophie, aged 4yrs – needing parental presence to fall asleep, night wakings/part night co-sleeping

Archie, aged 6 months – needing parental presence/pram to fall asleep, feeding to sleep, frequent night wakings

After months of sleep deprivation and generally feeling like the worst parents ever we found the Goodnight Guidance website and decided to shoot off an email to see if they could help us. We then spoke to Suzanne on the phone and were impressed with Suzanne’s knowledge and expertise and excited at the prospect that she could potentially help us help our children sleep better.

Our nearly 4 year old daughter needed us to lay beside her in bed to get her to sleep and would in most nights wake up and come into our bed where she would spend the rest of the night (if we were lucky). We have been struggling with her sleep since she was a baby.

Susan, Twins Amy and Leah aged 10 months – breastfed to sleep, co-sleeping, frequent night wakings, reflux, dummy dependent

After debating for a while whether we should just ‘survive’ our 10 month reflux twins relentless night tag team feeding and co-sleeping in a twin sandwich or actually deal with the situation I eventually decided to contact Suzanne who I had been recommended by another twin mum. Best decision ever!

Suzanne just genuinely wants to help families by supporting them in tackling their sleep deprivation issues. While I had two older boys and had some experience of sleep training the twin factor had me nervous to deal with it. They went to sleep with every prop in the book – soothers, white noise, rocking, singing, and then they were breastfed throughout the night.

Donna, Ollie aged 10 months – rocked to sleep, frequent night wakings, reluctant napper

I have a 10month old son who didn’t sleep day or night. My husband and I were lucky to get 2hours sleep at night. It was a struggle getting my baby to sleep he had to be rocked and sleeping before placed in the cot and was awake within an hour r 2 and the same situation occurred all night. I had seen Suzanne’s advert and my husband and I discussed the situation and decided we would contact her. Suzanne was a great help on the phone and when she came out to our home we all felt very at ease and trusted that she could help us. Such a turn around we have had. My baby is asleep for 7pm and sleeping through the night for us. We have the evenings to ourselves plus we are getting a nights sleep. He is napping for 2hours in the morning and an hour and half in the afternoon. We are all so much happy we are glad we contacted Suzanne and can’t be thankful enough for her help. Nobody such suffer sleep deprivation when there is help out there and we are so glad we got the help needed.

Amy, Olivia aged 16 months – co-sleeping, drinking 3 bottles during the night, CMPA

Suzanne is absolutely amazing at her job & literally saved my sanity. With a 16 month old who was up 4/5 times a night and drinking at least 3 bottles through the night & sleeping in my bed she is now in her cot in her own room and slept through from night 4!

She then got sick and ended up back in my bed for a few nights but after the illness she was straight back into the cot & is again sleeping from 6.30pm – 7am! Before she refused to sleep until at least 9.30pm so it’s such a big improvement & Olivia is so much happier now she’s not so tired all the time!

Definitely recommend Suzanne to anyone struggling with sleep, wish I had of known about this sooner!!

Heidi, Mylo aged 6 months – CMPA, reflux, unable to self settle, frequent night wakings

Suzanne has changed our lives for the better, we are now able to enjoy our evenings and have a baby who sleeps 11/12hours a night without a peep! When I contacted Suzanne i was at my wits end, having already used another sleep consultant With woeful results I was sure no one could help us but was desperate. Our son (6 1/2 months then) was waking screaming his head off 5-10 times in the first few hours of the evening and needed us to sit with him every time he woke to get back to sleep. It often took us 45 mins-1hour sitting with him to get him to sleep in the first place and sometimes the same to get him back over when he woke and after the early evening upset he still woke 3/4 times each night. It was a living hell and having used another highly recommended sleep consultant I was very reluctant to spend more money, but after initial contact Suzanne called me and assured me she could help. We couldn’t go on as we were so we went ahead. It was very tough, our son got sick the first week and cut his first 2 teeth so things did not happen for us straight away, but Suzanne was so supportive and kept our hopes up it would work if we persevered. We persevered and although it has been a very hard road to get here our boy now naps well in his cot with us able to put him in and walk away (something I never thought Wud happen) and he settles himself with no tears, at night we still get some tears and upset but he settles himself in 10/15 minutes and now sleeps through for 11/12 hours each night without a peep. We have our evenings back and actually get time to relax and then go to bed knowing we will get a decent nights sleep. I can’t begin to tell you how supportive and helpful Suzanne was in our difficult circumstances. From advice on foods for weaning (our boy is cmpi and has silent reflux), how and when to give him his medication and winding techniques- our boy is now a changed baby who is happy and content in the day and seems so much happier and healthier now he is getting the sleep he needs. I would highly recommend Suzanne to anyone looking for help.

Clare, Saul aged 15 months – CMPA, dummy dependence, unable to self settle, frequent night wakings

I had been surviving on 5-6 hrs sleep a night( not in one go) for over a year. My husband often worked 70 hr weeks and I was exhausted looking after Saul, a 6 + 8 year old, managing the house + working part time. Things reached breaking point as I was sooo tired I couldn’t even think rationally to resolving the sleep situation + it was affecting the whole family. Saul had been breast fed until 13 mths + had never slept well but when I started him on cows milk he became even more unsettled. Already suspecting a cows milk intolerance I contacted Suzanne for advice and info re.sleep training. I confess I was uncertain as I had tried Gina Ford and controlled crying, both unsuccessfully + wondered would this be another strict routine that I would find hard to adhere to and limiting or something that involved a process of even more crying. I also felt embarrassed and totally lacking in self confidence that I had 3 kids but couldn’t seem to sort this out for my baby, me + the rest of the family.

Regardless of this I called Suzanne + after that first conversation I felt like a huge stress had been removed, she was so empathetic + completely understood.

He has been sleeping every night since for 12 hrs and 2 hrs during day. I can’t believe how quick, easy it really was + what a massive impact it has had on us. I wish we had called her earlier.

I would recommend Suzanne to everyone, she is instantly likeable, non- judgemental and just presents as a normal mummy, but with sleeping super powers!

Dee, Conor aged 7 months – Reflux, CMPA, fed to sleep, needed moved from parent’s room in to share with big brother 

We made the decision to contact Suzanne when our second baby, who had just turned seven months, simply would not sleep for more than three hours at a time. His sleep had never been great, but we felt that was to be expected at the newborn stage. Almost eight months on, we were both shattered. Some nights he would wake seven or eight times and consume up to twelve ounces of milk. No matter what we tried he could not soothe himself. I began to seriously worry about how we would cope when I would return to work and would need to function in the outside world. I contacted Suzanne in the desperate hope that she would magically fix our situation, but truly expected that the best result we could realistically hope for would be that he would wake “only” twice or three times a night instead. During our initial conversation, Suzanne was full of empathy and kindness; she helped me to believe that we were finally reaching the end of an extremely difficult road, and that with focus, dedication and a commitment to following the programme she would devise for us, our baby’s sleep would improve and we would all benefit as a result.

Joy, Lexie aged 9 months – Reflux, CMPA, fed/rocked/dummy to fall asleep

I contacted Suzanne after hearing her interview on Radio Ulster. From the initial message Suzanne was extremely helpful. My 9 month old baby was a reflux baby who could never self settle and who had never slept through the night.  Suzanne had so much knowledge on reflux babies and I felt she could really identify with my situation.  Suzanne was able to put together a schedule for our day for meal times and nap times which was very useful.  The 2nd night after the sleep training my baby slept all night for the first time ever….I really couldn’t believe it.  Nap times are stress free as well as she self settles and sleeps for 90 mins each nap.  I cannot thank Suzanne enough for what she has done for us. We are all enjoying better sleep now…….me especially!

Jane, Isobel aged 18 months – Breastfed to sleep, needing Mummy to be present to fall asleep, co-sleeping, repeated night waking (up to 10 times a night)

Long story short, our baby co slept until 18months, woke up up to ten times a night (sometimes more), would only settle if breast fed back to sleep and basically made me (mum) dread evenings.. thanks to Suzanne, she now sleeps in her in her own room, self settles and sleeps all night!   sounds too good to be true but it really is!! Suzanne is professional and so lovely and easy to work with 🙂

Katrina, Mia aged 5 months – repeated night waking, CMPA, dummy dependence

We have a beautiful daughter Mia who has never slept right through the night, she would maybe wake a couple of times but more recently had become 6 or 7 times a night, we discovered at 4 months old she had a cow’s milk protein allergy and we started to realise this was part of the problem why she wasn’t sleeping, she also relied on us to nurse her to sleep and couldn’t self settle, I had no idea how to fix the bad habits we had taught her.

A friend then told us how his brother’s daughter had had problems with sleep and they had found Suzanne and she resolved their sleeping issue, so after another fortnight of sleepless nights we decided we need Suzanne.

Even just after a telephone call with Suzanne I felt so much happier that we could turn things around, she came to see us very quickly and gave us a plan of action and taught us the skills we needed to help Mia sleep, after only two nights of training Mia slept right through I couldn’t believe it, not even a week later she is doing so much better, she is a happier baby and we are a happier family. I couldn’t have asked for any more. I’m so glad we made the decision to contact Suzanne she was very professional and so friendly, very easy to work with, if we ever need any help in the future I will not hesitate to contact her.

Kelly, Gabriel aged 9 months – Breastfed to sleep, needing Mummy to be present to fall asleep, repeated night waking (up to 15 times a night), co-sleeping, reflux

(Written 2 months after sleep training)

We couldn’t have known what a difference Suzanne would make to our lives.  The change has been amazing.  After 11 months of constant sleep deprivation with regular wake times every 50 minutes to be breastfed – despite co-sleeping – I knew I was at the end of the line.  I don’t think there was more than 2.5 hours continuous sleep in that period.  The entire family was sleep deprived but Gabriel and myself we were utterly exhausted and it showed.  Due to go back to work full-time to a new job, and with a demanding 3 year old, I realised something was going to give and it was likely to be my mental health!  So I contacted Suzanne and she was brilliant.  She really took time to understand everything that was happening with Gabriel.  His complete routine.  The fact that she had 2 babies with silent reflux really made me feel a lot more comfortable as I always felt that no one understood just how hard it was to get these babies to sleep (and to stay asleep)!  My eldest boy also had reflux and a milk allergy and Suzanne just ‘got’ what this had meant for the entire family in terms of sleep (or lack of it!).

Since Suzanne’s visit, we have needed to go into Gabriel’s room only once during the night (the following night at 5am).  Every night since has been a solid 11.5 hours sleep.  He does not cry going into his cot at night, and he does not cry when he wakes in the morning – he just babbles until we go in.  It is so lovely to hear him content in his cot in the morning ready for the day ahead.  Day time naps are also much easier – no more pram rocking for hours, or car journeys to induce sleep!

It is amazing.  He is a much more contented baby during the day and I am a much more contented mummy! Suzanne’s approach is very child-centred and gentle.  I had complete confidence in her as she was able to demonstrate her knowledge and experience without making us feel like we had been doing everything wrong!   (Which we hadn’t, we were just doing what we could to get through each day as best we could).

I would recommend her to anyone feeling that they have little to no control over their child’s sleep.  Best investment we ever made.

Lisa, James aged 5 months – reflux, repeated night waking, needing to be held/lying beside Mummy to fall asleep, co-sleeping, short day naps

“I believe in miracles”. I cannot even begin to thank Suzanne enough for the generosity she has shown – both with her time and her spirit. Not only is she amazing at her job but her kindness and patience towards me and James has been unwavering.

• I have my evenings back
• I have my house under control-ish
• I have sleep zzzzz
• I have my life back

I promise to keep it up! Thank you!

Nuala

Rose aged 17 months – Glue ear, repeated night waking, needing help to fall asleep, dummy dependence

Nora aged 4yrs – Frequent waking, hard to settle at bedtime, nightmares, sleep walking, co-sleeping with parents during the night

We had been experiencing problems with both our daughters sleep patterns for a good few months. The disrupted sleep meant that most mornings either my husband or I were going to work with only 2-3 hours sleep. The lack of sleep made it difficult to simply enjoy the children, to have any time for ourselves or to simply function.

I was hesitant about seeking help, but when I began to talk with Suzanne she was reassuring and confident that she could help. Part of me was sceptical as I felt that only we ourselves could manage our children’s sleep patterns.

Suzanne came to our home and was instantly at ease with the children, and they with her. She was thoroughly professional in her approach, but remained caring, patient and supportive while she implemented simple changes to the family routines.

We are now three months on from Suzanne having helped us and the children both continue to sleep through the night. More importantly, we all sleep through the night now too!

Sleep training is a worthwhile exercise for anyone or any family experiencing difficulties with night-time routines and there is help available. No-one should suffer lack of sleep when sleep training can resolve this problem. I would have no hesitation in recommending Suzanne’s work.